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-   -   Lights won't turn off on 3-way switched circuit (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=320703)

  • Feb 22, 2009, 04:06 PM
    tdouty
    Lights won't turn off on 3-way switched circuit
    Here's the situation:

    Switch at the bottom of stairs and switch in the upstairs hallway near bedrooms.
    Ceiling fan at the top of stairs with a light attached to it.
    Ceiling light in the upstairs hallway outside bedrooms.

    Everything worked.

    I replaced the fan with a new fan/light combination and replaced the hall light at the same time.

    After I installed both of these, there is power to both the light and fan/light all the time. When either switch is flipped, the power stays on and I can't get the lights to go out. I can turn the fan/light off with the pull-chains on the fan/light which makes sense. The circuit seems to be live all the time.
  • Feb 22, 2009, 05:32 PM
    corrillo
    In the ceiling box there is probably two black wires one is hot all the time and the other works with the switch you need to get an eletric tester and see wich one loses power with the switch off and connect the fan and light to that wire the other wire wich is hot all the time is the one that feeds power to the switch first
  • Feb 22, 2009, 07:35 PM
    tdouty
    So far, I've done the following to diagnose it:

    I took down the upstairs light fixture since it would be easier than the fan. The switch at the bedrooms is very near this fixture.

    At that fixture, I have two sets of wires coming into the box. Both are a black, white and bare ground. I separated them and turned on the breaker to test the wires. On the one set of wires, I tested the black and it was hot all the time no matter what I did with the switches. I'm guessing this one comes from the fan since at this time, the fan/light was on all the time. The other set of wires were then tested. On this one, the black one was hot depending on the position of the switch beside me near the bedrooms. I then put a wire nut on the black wires and let them go. I think tomorrow I may have to take down the fan to see what I have there. For tonight I'll just turn off the breaker.

    Here's how this happened: I wasn't paying attention when the fan/light wires were taken out of the electrical box and the old fan was taken down. I was getting the old fan ready to go to a local charity and the lady of the house took down the old fan plate and put up the new one, fishing the wires out through the hole in the new plate. I wasn't thinking at the time about it being a three way fixture or I would have paid closer attention to what was going on. When I got up there, I had a white and a black and I just hooked into them with the white and black for the fan motor. That's about all I can tell you until I get the new fan down and test wires there.

    Does this help?

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